As it is stated in one publication at Eifel Community: "Key Competencies European Training Catalogue and Competencies Assessment Software", the following is a clear definition of Key Competencies:
“Key competencies represent a transferable, multifunctional package of knowledge, skills and attitudes that all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, inclusion and employment. These should have been developed by the end of compulsory school or training, and should act as a foundation for further learning as part of Lifelong Learning‘."
2. The Eight Key Competencies
As you can read at: "The Key Competences for Lifelong Learning – A European Framework", an annex of a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning that was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 30 December 2006/L394.(http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2006/l_394/l_39420061230en00100018.pdf), Competences are defined here as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. Key competences are those which all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment.
The key competences are all considered equally important, because each of them can contribute to a successful life in a knowledge society. Many of the competences overlap and interlock: aspects essential to one domain will support competencein another. Competence in the fundamental basic skills of language, literacy, numeracy and in information and communication technologies(ICT) is an essential foundation for learning, and learning to learn supports all learning activities. There are a number of themes that are appliedthroughout the Reference Framework: critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem-solving, risk assessment, decision-taking, and constructive management of feelings play a role in all eight key competences.
The Reference Framework sets out eight key competences:
2.1. Communication in the mother tongue
Communication in the mother tongue is the ability to express and interpret concepts, thoughts, feelings, facts and opinions
in both oral and written form (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and to interact linguistically in an appropriate and creative way in a full range of societal and cultural contexts; in education and training, work, home and leisure.
2.2. Communication in foreign languages
Communication in foreign languages broadly shares the main skill dimensions of communication in the mother tongue: it is
based on the ability to understand, expressand interpret concepts, thoughts, feelings, facts and opinions in both oral and written form (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in an appropriate range of societal and cultural contexts (in education and training, work, home and leisure) according to one’s wants or needs. Communication in foreign languages also calls for skills such as mediation and intercultural understanding. An individual’s level of proficiency will vary between the four dimensions (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and between the different languages, and according to that individual’s social and cultural background, environment, needs and/or interests.
2.3. Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology
Mathematical competence is the ability to develop and apply mathematical thinking in order to solve a range of problems in
everyday situations. Building on a sound mastery of numeracy, the emphasis is on process and activity, as well as knowledge. Mathematical competence involves, to different degrees, the ability and willingness to use mathematical modes of thought (logical and spatial thinking) and presentation (formulas, models, constructs, graphs, charts).
2.4. Digital competence
Digital competence involves the confident and critical use of Information Society Technology (IST) for work, leisure and
communication. It is underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, assess, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and participate in collaborative networks via the Internet.
2.5. Learning to learn
Learning to learn is the ability to pursue and persist in learning, to organise one’s own learning, including through
effective management of time and information, both individually and in groups.This competence includes awareness of
one’s learning process and needs, identifying available opportunities, and the ability to overcome obstacles in order
to learn successfully. This competence means gaining, processing and assimilating new knowledge and skills as well as seeking and making use of guidance. Learning to learn engages learners to build on prior learning and life experiences
in order to use and apply knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts: at home, at work, in education and training. Motivation and confidence are crucial to an individual’s competence.
2.6. Social and civic competences
These include personal, interpersonal and intercultural competence and cover all forms of behaviour that equip individuals to participate in an effective and constructive way in social and working life, and particularly in
increasingly diverse societies, and to resolve conflict where necessary. Civic competence equips individuals to fully participate in civic life, based on knowledge of social and political concepts and structures and a commitment to active and democratic participation.
2.7. Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This supports individuals, not only in their everyday lives at home and in society, but also in the workplace in being aware of the context of their work and being able to seize opportunities, and is a foundation for more specific skills and knowledge needed by those establishing or contributing to social or commercial activity. This should include awareness of ethical values and promote good governance.
2.8. Cultural awareness and expression
Appreciation of the importance of the creative expression of ideas, experiences and emotions in a range of media, including music, performing arts, literature, and the visual arts.
3. The Implementation of the Key Competencies in the Metodology
Since English is not the students' mother tongue, I will not deal with the comptence: "Communication in the mother tongue".
Now, I would like to show the way the Key Competencies are implemented in my Methodology named in Spanish as "Inglés para mis Propios Intereses (IPI)" and "English for my Own Interests (EOI)" in English:
Communication in foreign languages
In our case, the English language. It is easy to implement in our methodology as it refers to the language itself, that is, communication.
The activities in this methodology refers to acquire basic skills to communicate in English and that way fostering relationship among other people who speak or use the English language fluently.
As described int the methodology, the students will learn and revise the language through the four basic skills, which will allow a greater level of autonomy and fluency to face any real context. They will be able to read, write, speak and listen by means of their own interests, which will be even more motivating to implement this competency.
Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology
It will probably be the most diffcult competence to put into practice regarding languages. Anyway, the rules and the patterns in which languages are based on, are nothing more than structured procedure - apart from exceptions, the ones that prove the rule - and I will say mathematical ones, so that people can communicate among each other. In other words, when the students learn any verbal tenses or how to build and put elements into a sentence, they are learning a rule, as in a mathematical operation in which 2 an 2 is 4.
The students learn the language through different methods and by means of the grammar and exercises they are using operational reasoning to understand the language and rules in the right way.
Regarding the vocabulary, the introduction to Numbers , Days of the Week, and Months of the Year, bring the students closer to a logical organization in which the mathematical competence is clearly defined.
Digital competence
The implementation is really clear in this methodology. First, it is designed inside a Web 2.0 application, a wiki. The students will become familiar with wikis (wikispaces) from the very beginning as they will create a personal one for their eportfolio, a digital document to register and assess their own progress in the language. By means of Writer
(OpenOffice), the students will carry out their written work, convert into pdf format and upload them as a valuable document to their eportfolio.
Second, the activities are in most cases online, which it implies using the internet almost everyday. It is worth highlighting the use of WebQuests, which involves team work, on the one hand and searching and transforming information into knowledge on the other.
Besides, with the activities and tasks suggested in the methodology, the students will make use of an operating system like LENIX 2008 and their different tools - sponsored by Junta de Extremadura (Autonomous Government of Extremadura) - which will be suitable to build up their own learning process.
Social and civic competences
This competence will be carry out by means of group and pair work activities in the methodology. Apart from using the English language as a tool of communication, the students will know their classmates in depth, appreciate and respect their opinions, and foster companionship among others, something useful in their lives.
The Webquests, above mentioned, will be an execellent tool for putting this competence into practice.
On the other hand, the methodology offers the students other interesting elements such as Vocabulary and Social Issues in which this competence will be reflected on. Regarding Vocabulary, with topics such as Health, the students will deal with health problems, medical terms and illnesses. Consumption, introduced by Shopping, apart from learning new vocabulary, will be useful to pratice real situation in groups or in pairs.
Other social topics - interesting to be introduced to teenagers - such as Alcohol, Anorexia and Bulimia, Drugs, Environment, Obesity, etc. can be found in the methodology. The students will be familiar with these issues that may affect them and develop a critical thought by carrying out vocabulary, reading, listening and discussion activities.
Cultural awareness and expression
Dealing with a language means not only grammar, but a way of understanding a different culture. The students will learn about the language, the culture and customs of three English-speaking countries:
The section referring to Students' Interests will make them be aware of other people's culture through music and sports
. The students will know and understand better these cultural expressions.
In the same way, British or American Holidays as Halloween, present in the Spanish life and school, or others such as April Fool, Guy Fawkes, etc. are more and more popular and the activities in the methodology related to them will make the students understand their culture easily. Those activities may arouse the students' artistic and creative side by making drawings, posters and handicrafts.
Learning to learn
Talking about "learning to learn" in this methodology, is talking about Portfolio, and specially the eportfolio developed in this project. The students will elaborate their own one to be aware of their learning process: what, how and what it is for.
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
The methodology wants the students be autonomous in the acquisition of the language and for that reason, the students themselves, or as a result of the class general consent, will choose what they want to learn from the very beginning.
The methodology implies that learning is part of the students' life and they can use it in the classroom, at home, public places as the library, etc. that is to say, everywhere with internet conection, or better say broadband or high-speed conection.
On the other hand, Grammar will be part of the methodology, the students will have at their disposal, a lot of activities (online activities and printables) to revise it.
Finally, the way to evaluate and assess their progress in the acqusition of the language will be the eportfolio, which will show up students' values such as: sense of responsibility, perseverance, creativity, and personal autonomy.
Table of Contents
The concept of KEY COMPETENCIES can be read in the Spanish Education Organic Law (LOE (LEY ORGÁNICA 2/2006, de 3 de mayo, de Educación.) and as seen in the article: "Enseñanza bilingüe en español e inglés en la materia de matemáticas de secundaria: adquisición de las competencias básicas"by the Mathematics teacher Antonio Martínez Ortiz (I.E.S. “Cristóbal Pérez Pastor” de Tobarra - Albacete: Spain), and published by the digital magazine "Revista Digital Sociedad de la Información", it is mentioned the importance of these competencies since the fact of getting the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) - the Spanish Graduado de E. S. O. - depends mainly in the acquisition of them.
1. Key Competencies: Definition
As it is stated in one publication at Eifel Community: "Key Competencies European Training Catalogue and Competencies Assessment Software", the following is a clear definition of Key Competencies:
“Key competencies represent a transferable, multifunctional package of knowledge, skills and attitudes that all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, inclusion and employment. These should have been developed by the end of compulsory school or training, and should act as a foundation for further learning as part of Lifelong Learning‘."
2. The Eight Key Competencies
As you can read at: "The Key Competences for Lifelong Learning – A European Framework", an annex of a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on key competences for lifelong learning that was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 30 December 2006/L394.(http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2006/l_394/l_39420061230en00100018.pdf), Competences are defined here as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. Key competences are those which all individuals need for personal fulfilment and development, active citizenship, social inclusion and employment.
The key competences are all considered equally important, because each of them can contribute to a successful life in a knowledge society. Many of the competences overlap and interlock: aspects essential to one domain will support competencein another. Competence in the fundamental basic skills of language, literacy, numeracy and in information and communication technologies(ICT) is an essential foundation for learning, and learning to learn supports all learning activities. There are a number of themes that are appliedthroughout the Reference Framework: critical thinking, creativity, initiative, problem-solving, risk assessment, decision-taking, and constructive management of feelings play a role in all eight key competences.
The Reference Framework sets out eight key competences:
2.1. Communication in the mother tongue
Communication in the mother tongue is the ability to express and interpret concepts, thoughts, feelings, facts and opinions
in both oral and written form (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and to interact linguistically in an appropriate and creative way in a full range of societal and cultural contexts; in education and training, work, home and leisure.
2.2. Communication in foreign languages
Communication in foreign languages broadly shares the main skill dimensions of communication in the mother tongue: it is
based on the ability to understand, expressand interpret concepts, thoughts, feelings, facts and opinions in both oral and written form (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in an appropriate range of societal and cultural contexts (in education and training, work, home and leisure) according to one’s wants or needs. Communication in foreign languages also calls for skills such as mediation and intercultural understanding. An individual’s level of proficiency will vary between the four dimensions (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and between the different languages, and according to that individual’s social and cultural background, environment, needs and/or interests.
2.3. Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology
Mathematical competence is the ability to develop and apply mathematical thinking in order to solve a range of problems in
everyday situations. Building on a sound mastery of numeracy, the emphasis is on process and activity, as well as knowledge. Mathematical competence involves, to different degrees, the ability and willingness to use mathematical modes of thought (logical and spatial thinking) and presentation (formulas, models, constructs, graphs, charts).
2.4. Digital competence
Digital competence involves the confident and critical use of Information Society Technology (IST) for work, leisure and
communication. It is underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, assess, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and participate in collaborative networks via the Internet.
2.5. Learning to learn
Learning to learn is the ability to pursue and persist in learning, to organise one’s own learning, including through
effective management of time and information, both individually and in groups.This competence includes awareness of
one’s learning process and needs, identifying available opportunities, and the ability to overcome obstacles in order
to learn successfully. This competence means gaining, processing and assimilating new knowledge and skills as well as seeking and making use of guidance. Learning to learn engages learners to build on prior learning and life experiences
in order to use and apply knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts: at home, at work, in education and training. Motivation and confidence are crucial to an individual’s competence.
2.6. Social and civic competences
These include personal, interpersonal and intercultural competence and cover all forms of behaviour that equip individuals to participate in an effective and constructive way in social and working life, and particularly in
increasingly diverse societies, and to resolve conflict where necessary. Civic competence equips individuals to fully participate in civic life, based on knowledge of social and political concepts and structures and a commitment to active and democratic participation.
2.7. Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This supports individuals, not only in their everyday lives at home and in society, but also in the workplace in being aware of the context of their work and being able to seize opportunities, and is a foundation for more specific skills and knowledge needed by those establishing or contributing to social or commercial activity. This should include awareness of ethical values and promote good governance.
2.8. Cultural awareness and expression
Appreciation of the importance of the creative expression of ideas, experiences and emotions in a range of media, including music, performing arts, literature, and the visual arts.
3. The Implementation of the Key Competencies in the Metodology
Since English is not the students' mother tongue, I will not deal with the comptence: "Communication in the mother tongue".
Now, I would like to show the way the Key Competencies are implemented in my Methodology named in Spanish as "Inglés para mis Propios Intereses (IPI)" and "English for my Own Interests (EOI)" in English:
In our case, the English language. It is easy to implement in our methodology as it refers to the language itself, that is, communication.
The activities in this methodology refers to acquire basic skills to communicate in English and that way fostering relationship among other people who speak or use the English language fluently.
As described int the methodology, the students will learn and revise the language through the four basic skills, which will allow a greater level of autonomy and fluency to face any real context. They will be able to read, write, speak and listen by means of their own interests, which will be even more motivating to implement this competency.
It will probably be the most diffcult competence to put into practice regarding languages. Anyway, the rules and the patterns in which languages are based on, are nothing more than structured procedure - apart from exceptions, the ones that prove the rule - and I will say mathematical ones, so that people can communicate among each other. In other words, when the students learn any verbal tenses or how to build and put elements into a sentence, they are learning a rule, as in a mathematical operation in which 2 an 2 is 4.
The students learn the language through different methods and by means of the grammar and exercises they are using operational reasoning to understand the language and rules in the right way.
Regarding the vocabulary, the introduction to Numbers , Days of the Week, and Months of the Year, bring the students closer to a logical organization in which the mathematical competence is clearly defined.
The implementation is really clear in this methodology. First, it is designed inside a Web 2.0 application, a wiki. The students will become familiar with wikis (wikispaces) from the very beginning as they will create a personal one for their eportfolio, a digital document to register and assess their own progress in the language. By means of Writer
(OpenOffice), the students will carry out their written work, convert into pdf format and upload them as a valuable document to their eportfolio.
Second, the activities are in most cases online, which it implies using the internet almost everyday. It is worth highlighting the use of WebQuests, which involves team work, on the one hand and searching and transforming information into knowledge on the other.
Besides, with the activities and tasks suggested in the methodology, the students will make use of an operating system like LENIX 2008 and their different tools - sponsored by Junta de Extremadura (Autonomous Government of Extremadura) - which will be suitable to build up their own learning process.
This competence will be carry out by means of group and pair work activities in the methodology. Apart from using the English language as a tool of communication, the students will know their classmates in depth, appreciate and respect their opinions, and foster companionship among others, something useful in their lives.
The Webquests, above mentioned, will be an execellent tool for putting this competence into practice.
On the other hand, the methodology offers the students other interesting elements such as Vocabulary and Social Issues in which this competence will be reflected on. Regarding Vocabulary, with topics such as Health, the students will deal with health problems, medical terms and illnesses. Consumption, introduced by Shopping, apart from learning new vocabulary, will be useful to pratice real situation in groups or in pairs.
Other social topics - interesting to be introduced to teenagers - such as Alcohol, Anorexia and Bulimia, Drugs, Environment, Obesity, etc. can be found in the methodology. The students will be familiar with these issues that may affect them and develop a critical thought by carrying out vocabulary, reading, listening and discussion activities.
Dealing with a language means not only grammar, but a way of understanding a different culture. The students will learn about the language, the culture and customs of three English-speaking countries:
The section referring to Students' Interests will make them be aware of other people's culture through music and sports
. The students will know and understand better these cultural expressions.
In the same way, British or American Holidays as Halloween, present in the Spanish life and school, or others such as April Fool, Guy Fawkes, etc. are more and more popular and the activities in the methodology related to them will make the students understand their culture easily. Those activities may arouse the students' artistic and creative side by making drawings, posters and handicrafts.
Talking about "learning to learn" in this methodology, is talking about Portfolio, and specially the eportfolio developed in this project. The students will elaborate their own one to be aware of their learning process: what, how and what it is for.
The methodology wants the students be autonomous in the acquisition of the language and for that reason, the students themselves, or as a result of the class general consent, will choose what they want to learn from the very beginning.
The methodology implies that learning is part of the students' life and they can use it in the classroom, at home, public places as the library, etc. that is to say, everywhere with internet conection, or better say broadband or high-speed conection.
On the other hand, Grammar will be part of the methodology, the students will have at their disposal, a lot of activities (online activities and printables) to revise it.
Finally, the way to evaluate and assess their progress in the acqusition of the language will be the eportfolio, which will show up students' values such as: sense of responsibility, perseverance, creativity, and personal autonomy.
4. Resources
Resources and Legal Framework: